Bright as the Midnight Sun
by thethirteenthdoctor
Summary: Prequel-ish to A Forgotten Future. Upon regenerating for the thirteenth time, the Doctor receives a distress call from a planet that should have been abandoned. IN PROGRESS.
1. Preface

**BBC owns everything but Thirteen. R&amp;R!**

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"Legs, two; hands, two; fingers, ten..."

The Doctor had regenerated, and was now doing an inventory of limbs. "Hair! How's my hair? Not ginger. Long, though. Brown. Oh, well. Feet, two; torso, one; chest- oh!" She looked down at herself. "Oh my god. I'm a girl!"

She stood up, stretching and looking around. "I always wanted to be a girl," she said to no one in particular. "Wait, maybe I just think I did, because I'm a girl now. The Middle Ages could be a problem... I'll need a male companion. Maybe... no, he's busy with Torchwood. Oh, well. Let's see what happens."

Her old psychic paper lay on the floor, must have fallen out of her pocket. When she picked it up, she flipped it open, just for old times' sake. She didn't expect to see a message. It was only a few words:

DOCTOR

IT'S BACK

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**A/N: Short chapter to start off! I imagined it as the bit before the title sequence.**


	2. Flashback

_~Flashback~_

_A -long time/not so long- -ago/in the future-:_

_The rescue pod had finally arrived, and the passengers of the Voyager tour bus on the planet Midnight, 27th century, were on their way back to the Leisure Palace. The passengers were showing different reactions to the rescue, the loss of two passengers and the two drivers, and what they had just experienced on that tour bus. Some were sitting, shaken, but a few (mainly just Biff Cane and Professor Hobbes, two disgusting examples of human beings) were celebrating their rescue and survival, and when they thought of those who had been lost, they celebrated because it wasn't them, paying no mind to the people who had given their lives that day. The Doctor watched all of them, thinking of Sky and the hostess, while analyzing the passengers' behavior, specifically the two men who had ignored all his warnings and even tried to throw him to his death. However, there was one person who exhibited neither of these behaviors- Jethro. He had pulled his knees to his chest and was covering his face with his hands. Muffled sobs came from behind his hands, quiet enough that no one but the Doctor could hear them. Deciding that, of all of them, Jethro was the one who most needed a "doctor", the Doctor broke out of his sulk and laid his hand on the boy's shoulder._

_"Dammit Dad, don't you think you've messed things up enough today? Leave me alone!" Jethro said quietly but with conviction. The Doctor noted that Jethro was trying to stand up to his father, whereas before, he had done as he was told._

_"I'm not your father," the Doctor said softly. Jethro started and looked up, wiping the tears off his face._

_"I- Doctor," he said quickly. "Oh god, I'm so- so sorry. I don't... my father... it was my fault-"_

_The Doctor cut him off. "Jethro. It was not your fault, none of it. You did what your father told you to do. That's the default mechanism for anyone in a dangerous situation."_

_"But... sometimes that's a bad thing then. And I should have stood up to him, I should've..." He trailed off, looking lost._

* * *

_"What?" _

_"I just came to tell you... I mean, I figured you'd like to know." Jethro looked around. "My parents will be looking for me."_

_"But... why aren't they going to close the Luxury Palace?" The Doctor was very, very, confused_

_"I don't know, all I know is that's what they said."_

_The Doctor sighed. "Alright, Jethro, I need you to remember this. That creature, whatever it was, is going to strike again. When that happens, you need to tell me."_

_"What, you won't find out?"_

_The Doctor sighed again and explained everything to Jethro._

* * *

_After he finished, Jethro looked stunned for a minute, then said, "How do I contact you?"_

_"Make a wish. That usually works." _

_~End Flashback~ _

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**A/N: Next chapter the action starts!**

**R&amp;R please!**


	3. A Long-Ago Friend

A/N:** This took me longer than expected, sorry! Also, where did the line break go!? **

**ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー ****(improvised line break)**

The whooshing, wheezing sound of the TARDIS faded. The Doctor stabilized and gravity-locked her ship, before disappearing into the TARDIS's huge wardrobe room for nearly half an hour. She eventually stepped back into the control room wearing a slightly large men's trenchcoat made of thick, black wool, with dark blue jeans and a simple, faded blue tee shirt beneath it, an enormous improvement on the too-tight, too-loose, black and red suit and coat which she'd regenerated in. The TARDIS's monitor told her that they had materialized on the planet Sirius V during the 27th century, while it was inhabited by humans. Stepping carefully out of the TARDIS, the Doctor found herself in a dark storage room. She pushed open the door to see a crowded food court.

Someone here sent me a message, the Doctor told herself. I need to find that person.

She wandered the food for a short time, scanning the faces of the loud humans for one she recognized, until her gaze fell on blue eyes set in the angular face of a pasty, black-haired young man. He looked nervous to the point of illness, and so it didn't take her long to recognize him as Jethro Cane, the teenager on the Midnight tour bus when she had been a thousand years younger. It seemed, though, that only a few years had passed here, for he was nineteen at the youngest- no older than twenty-three- while when she had last seen him, he was perhaps sixteen or seventeen. The Midnight situation washed over her again, and she knew that he had called her, and she knew why.

She approached him confidently, the slight mind-scramble of regeneration causing her to forget that he wouldn't recognize her, and sat down in the chair opposite him in the small table. He looked at her, shaken out of his train of thought.

"Jethro," she said quietly, giving a half-hearted smile. "I wish I could say it's good to see you again."

He frowned slightly. "Sorry, but who are you?"

She thought about that for a half second, then laughed in embarrassment, blushing slightly. "Oh! Sorry, I... sorry. My mind's a bit..."

"Scrambled, yeah. Me too."

"I could tell."

He laughed.

She clasped her hands together on the table, and leaned forward slightly. "Jethro, I'm the Doctor."

His eyes widened. "So, you mean you... you know..."

"Regenerated, yes. Three times since we last met. Well, four, technically, but that's a long story. Right now, I need you to tell me what happened."

Jethro looked at her, clearly having difficulty seeing her as the Doctor, but began to explain. "About a week ago, 13 people died on one of the Midnight tours."

She sighed heavily. "How long has it been since we last met?"

"Three years."

"Right. Okay, so what was different on that specific tour last week?"

"They had to take an alternative route. There was a diamond-fall in the usual path, just like when we went."

"That makes sense. All right, I'm going to need to go take care of this. I... it would be... I don't want to put you in danger, but..."

"If you need help, I'll come. That- whatever it is- killed people in front of me."

She looked at him and nodded slowly. "Thank you."

The Doctor led Jethro into the storage room. His eyes widened. "That's it, then? The TARDIS?"

The Doctor smiled.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

A/N: Thoughts? R&amp;R please!


	4. A Familiar Planet

**A/N: So much story!**

**Enjoy!**

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They emerged on Midnight, in some sort of security room. The Doctor flashed her psychic paper at the two security guards, who scampered out of the room. Jethro followed her to the monitors, holding his questions for later. Clicking through the various views of the Luxury Palace, they found the floor plan of the building that showed the docking stations for the ground-shuttles.

A few minutes later, they had slipped past security, the Doctor had commandeered one of the small shuttles by hacking into the system, the Doctor had also hacked the alert system so no one would know they and the shuttle were gone, the shuttle was zooming away from the Luxury Palace, and Jethro was impressed.

The Doctor sat back in her 'captain's chair-seat-thing', as she called them. "Okay if we're going to do this right, we need to have some idea of what this thing is."

"Don't you just sort of... know everything?"

"Usually. Somehow, not this time."

"Well, how about starting with what we know?"

"Sounds good. You may have to refresh my memory. It's been a long time. I remember that there are extonic rays which should vaporize just about anything instantly, but the thing is unaffected..."

"And the creature can sort of possess people, make them copy what others say, then say it at the same time, then talk before them, and take them over."

The Doctor winced. "Definitely remember that bit."

"Sorry."

"It's fine. Next, it appears as a sort of flickering shadow or movement in the distance. You didn't see that part."

Jethro nodded. "Last thing I can think of is it wants to kill and possess people."

"Okay. Now, why and how?"

"What do you think?"

"Hmm... Right, extonic rays. I've been thinking maybe some kind of atmosphere bulge, but I already checked for that. The options are: either something is protecting it or... it has no physical form; a consciousness can't be incinerated."

"It's probably the second one, isn't it?"

"Almost certainly."

"Do we know anything else?"

"Nope!"

They arrived at their destination, and Jethro paused. "How are we supposed to go out?"

The Doctor smiled and produced two orange space suit things from her pockets ("bigger on the inside" as she explained). "These'll do. You could jump into a star in this- trust me!"

After the two of them donned their orange suits, the Doctor looked at Jethro.

"We can have no idea what it is or how it works yet," she said. "All we know is that it's incorporeal with the ability to somehow possess one person and somehow (probably psychically) control at least one other person, for which it chose me, seems to use the minds of the people it controls to learn what they know, and it has used these abilities to kill people. Every conjecture we make has had some fallacy, but hopefully we can sort it out by going in there. It knows we're here, and I think it will be waiting."

Jethro frowns. "Are you... sure you want to do this?"

"No, I don't want to do it. But if I don't do it, more people will die." She sighed. "Last thing: When we go in there, sooner or later it will control me, and not you. It went for me last time, I think it will again. You must allow this _but only long enough_ to get information from it. Get what you can, then… you'll have to figure out how to get me back and we'll think and work this out. It will be dangerous. I'm sorry. You can go back now, if you want."

"I want to do this. Even if I die, it'll be the best thing I've ever done… and the most exciting."

"Fair enough. And, ah, before we go, I... I want you to hold on to this for me. It's sort of special."

In her hand was what looked like a really strange screwdriver. He took it and pocketed it.

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**A/N: Hope you liked it! R&amp;R!**


	5. Poisoned Diamonds and Deadly Sunlight

**A/N: I didn't mean to make this one so short, I just had to find a good space for a break!**

**Anyways, I'm excited because I have so much story ready to publish! What I've already posted is only about half of what I've got written. The only problem is finding the time to actually publish it, because I usually have to type on my phone due to all actual computers in my house being used, and for those of you who haven't tried, updating from a small touchscreen is REALLY HARD.**

**On a slightly related note, my family drives me mad. I'm pretty sure my sister really enjoys showing everyone how much nicer and more polite she is than me.**

**Hopefully, I'll get a laptop for Christmas, and then my life will be so much easier.**

**To those (very few) of you who review my stories, thank you! It means a lot to me.**

**To the rest of you, thanks for reading, and ****_please do review._**** Again, it means a lot to me.**

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They exited the shuttle, breathing a sigh of relief when their suits sufficiently protected them from the blazing sunlight. The Doctor pointed to what seemed to be the mouth of a diamond cave, and Jethro nodded.

* * *

Inside the cavern, deadly sunlight glowed through a hundred metres of poisoned diamond. In front of the two adventurers, the passage widened, and other caves expanded from its sides like leaves on a hollow vine twisting through the great spire.

* * *

"Hello?" the Doctor called out- so terribly reminiscent of a victim in one of the old Earth horror movies, Jethro thought.

"Hello- hello- hello- hello…" said the caverns.

"We know you're here!" responded the Doctor.

"We know you're here," said the caverns- only once.

Jethro and the Doctor shared a look before she continued.

"We want to learn about you!" the Doctor continued.

"We want to learn about you…"

"We can make a deal with you!"

"We can make a deal with you…" Twenty metres or so in front of them, almost shrouded by the dancing ripples of light cast by the radioactive diamond walls, a flickering shadow paced the uneven, opaque floor of the cave.

The Doctor paused. "Whatever you want, we can help you get it."

"Whatever you want, we can help you get it…"

Jethro cut in. "We can take you to a planet where you can hunt as much as you wish!"

"We can take you a planet where you can hunt as much as you wish…"

The Doctor took a deep breath before continuing. "Forget about him."

"Forget about him…"

"You chose me last time, choose me again."

"You chose me last time, choose me again…" The shadow had paused in its path, flickering and shimmering like a glitchy screen, and Jethro would have sworn on the two suns of Tatooine that it was watching them, thinking.

"You don't really need a body, do you?"

"You don't really need a body… do you…"

"Link- bond- whatever it is you do… with me."

"Link… bond… whatever it is you do… with me…"

"Leave Jethro."

"Leave Jethro…"

"Let me talk to you," Jethro added.

The caverns were silent. The Doctor sighed in relief.

"We can help you," said the Doctor- and the cave.

The Doctor was breathing slowly and carefully. "Let us speak with you."

"Let us help you," the Doctor and the caverns- or rather, the hazy shadow that seemed to be gliding ever so slowly nearer to the Doctor- continued.

"Let us speak with you," the Doctor's double voices repeated.

"Let Jethro speak with you," they said.

"Let us learn about you."

"Whenever you're ready," said the Midnight entity.

"Whenever you're ready," said the Doctor.

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**A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! I'll be updating soon, I promise- maybe even today! **

**And yeah, couldn't resist making Jethro into a little nerd nugget, it seems to fit his character (not to mention his adorableness). Do please tell me what you think on that little addition, as it was a last-minute edit!**

**Actually, tell me what you think on everything: the formatting, word choice, descriptions, details, whatever. Oh, and do you read my A/Ns?**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	6. Alone

**A/N: It's taken longer than I expected... sorry.**

**Do any of you have any idea how to get more attention for my stories? I feel like just about everyone is getting more reviews than I am, and it makes it kind of difficult for me to really post because I feel unappreciated.**

**Anyways, more soon! PLEASE review and give me advice if you have any!**

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It would look to an outsider as though the Doctor was having a seizure; her muscles contracted and she fell, Jethro catching her and lowering her to the floor. He took a long, deep breath and stood up.

"Ask, stranger," said the Doctor's echo.

"Ask, stranger," said the Doctor.

"Do you have a name?"

"Perhaps. Long ago."

"Perhaps. Long ago."

"… What are you?"

"Alone."

"Alone."

Jethro pursed his lips. "Why did you kill those people?"

"I killed no one."

"I killed no one."

Jethro was confused. "How did they die, then?"

"I did not know."

"I did not know."

"What?! You killed them. I was there!"

"I killed no one."

"I killed no one."

He sighed. "Okay... okay. Why did you possess Skye?"

"She was a random choice."

"She was a random choice."

"Why did you possess anyone?"

"To reach others."

"To reach others."

"I am alone, Jethro Cane."

"I am alone, Jethro Cane."

"I have always been alone."

"I have always been alone."

"I did not kill anyone."

"I did not kill anyone."

"I do not hunt."

"I do not hunt."

"It seems you were wrong about me."

"It seems you were wrong about me."

"Why did the drivers die?"

"I did not know."

"I did not know."

"Why did you try to have the Doctor killed?"

"To free me."

"To free me."

Jethro was getting annoyed. "Why did those people on the other bus die?"

"They were not strong enough."

"They were not strong enough."

Jethro sighed again. "I... I need to talk to the Doctor now. I need to talk to her, and I need you to leave us alone for a few minutes."

"Why would I let go of this Doctor?"

"Why would I let go of this Doctor?"

"Why should I even be answering your questions?"

"Why should I even be answering your questions?"

"I could use you. I could take hold of you right now."

"I could use you. I could take hold of you right now."

A shiver slipped down Jethro's spine. He remembered that he had no idea how to drive a shuttle.

In a burst of courage, he stood up straight and stared into the empty caverns, at the pacing shadow. "Do it. Go ahead. I can't stop you. But you know what, if you do it, you'll never make it back to the Luxury Palace. That's where you want to go, right? Whatever you want, it's at the Luxury Palace. Well, you'll never get there. You can use my body, but I'll run out of air soon enough, and the suit will collapse and I'll disintegrate. You'll be right back at the start, and without us to help you. And you'll be stuck here for a long, long time. It's only humans on this planet, and apparently we're not strong enough. If Time Lords like her are what you need, then good luck without this one, 'cause she's the only one in the universe. So go ahead. 'Possess' me. You'll regret it. The Doctor and I are your only chance, and we're willing to help you, but first you have to give me the Doctor back, because neither of us are getting out of here without her."

"You make a good point."

"You make a good point."

Then it was gone, and the Doctor's body relaxed.

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**A/N: Bit of BAMF!Jethro for you :)**

**Soooo... Thoughts? Ideas? Tell me what you think!**


	7. Ancient Entities

**A/N: Two chapters in two days! Amazing!**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

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She opened her eyes. "Jethro? Jethro! Oh, good! And I haven't got an echo, either!"

"Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine."

"Do you remember anything?"

"I remember all of it. You were very brave, Jethro."

He tried not to blush "Erm... thanks. What... sorry, what do you think?"

The Doctor sighed. "I know that it's psychic. That was clear when it said the people on the other bus weren't strong enough, but I was. Time Lords are telepathic creatures, a thousand times more than humans. And a telepathic link of that strength... with a human... could accidentally cause the human to do something like rip open the tour bus door, easily."

Jethro paused. "What is that thing, then?"

"It said humans had a name for it. Are you good at history?"

"Good enough…"

"Think. It would probably be in the form of a person, a person who copied what everyone else said- only copied, since humans don't have the telepathic capability to let it go farther in the process. Maybe that person wasn't always like that."

Jethro's eyes widened. "Like Echo."

"Yeah, like an echo, that's what it was doing before, pretending to-"

"No, I mean _Echo_ Echo."

"What?"

"I mean, it's a myth, but.."

"There's more truth in myths than you'd like to know."

"Well, okay, so in the old Greek myths from Earth, there's a girl- a nymph- named Echo, and she's really pretty, and I can't quite remember why, but Hera- the queen of the gods, you know- curses her so that she'll always have to repeat everything anyone says, and she can't say anything herself, and then she falls in love with a human named Narcissus but she can't tell him and he's in love with himself and he sees his own reflection and falls in love with it and he says 'I love you' to it and so she can repeat it back to him but he doesn't hear and he starves to death or something from pining for his reflection and she kills herself maybe but I think her spirit haunts caves and repeats back what people say and that's where the word 'echo' came from."

"Right. So, say instead of being cursed by a goddess, Echo was inhabited by this alien. A consciousness never dies. It could easily survive to the 27th century."

"That makes sense." He hesitated. "So... what, it possesses someone then forms a telepathic link to someone else? Why?"

"It said it was lonely, didn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean when it inhabited Skye Silvestry, it... stole my voice, let's say, and it tried to convince everyone that it was Skye. If you were lonely, really, really lonely, and you'd always been alone, and you had the chance to become someone who had a life, who could make friends, wouldn't you do it?"

"Not if I'd have to kill people!"

"See, but Echo doesn't think like that. Its only thought is that it's lonely and it wants a voice, and Skye Silvestry and I were its key to that."

"Why _did_ it kill people? Like, the drivers."

"'I did not know,' remember? It doesn't have a body; it isn't affected by the sun. Before us, it had never had access to corporeal beings on Midnight. Before, when it had seen humans, their lives revolved around the sun. It would have had no way of knowing that this sun kills. It would have taken off the driver's compartment as a way in, with no idea that the drivers would die."

"But it did know that you would die if… we threw you out. Why did it want to kill you? And, I mean, why does it even copy people? How does it steal your voice?"

"That's a really good question. Okay, okay, what _does_ it do?" she asked, more to herself than to Jethro. "It… it inhabits; it learns; it copies everyone- assimilates; it selects a… victim… based on telepathic ability; it… impersonates the victim; it… what? Controls them? Becomes them? Steals their voice? Their mind? Psychically transfers its inability to them? I don't know. What else? What else what else what else? From- from the Echo story, I would assume that it naturally forms this sort of psychic links with everyone around it, it doesn't have a choice. But then it… it selects one, it only copies one, it only controls… one. Why?"

"To strengthen the bond? Like, concentrate the telepathic energy from all the other bonds into one bond? So that it can use that person?"

The Doctor looked at him. "You know what? I think you're right."

"But why did it try to kill you? If the link gives it a voice, wouldn't killing you destroy the link and ruin everything?"

"I can explain that, actually. Imagine… imagine a rope, and I'm holding one end and Echo is holding the other, and we're running- or, I'm running and Echo isn't. As I move, I pull Echo along, but it's still behind me, and I control how fast we go and what direction- or rather, I talk and Echo repeats after me, and I have control over what we say. Now imagine that as I run, Echo gains momentum, until we're running together- or speaking at the same time- and I still have control. Echo continues to use me to give it more power until it pulls ahead, and now it's in control- speaking before me and controlling what we say. Does that make sense?"

"I… think so."

"Good. So if, as you so cleverly pointed out, I died and the link was destroyed, or let's say someone cut the rope, _while I was pulling Echo along_, what would happen?"

"Um, it would stop moving, because it was dependent on you to pull it?"

"Exactly. But what if that happened when _it _was in control and dragging _me _along?"

"Ohh. It would just keep running, right?"

"Right. So at the point when Echo is in control, killing me simply rids it of an unneeded part, maybe even makes things easier for it, not having to use that much energy. Once it's in control, it doesn't need me."

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**A/N: Long chapter today!**

**What did you think?**

**Also, any ideas on getting more views/reviews?**


	8. A Deal

**A/N: Gah... drowning... in... versions... of ... this... document!**

**I really need to compile them :/ I have this problem where I find myself _hoping _that I've just posted the _full_ version of a chapter.**

**R&amp;R!**

* * *

Jethro frowned. "So… how are we supposed to stop it?"

"That's the thing. It's not eating humans or anything. All of the deaths it's caused have been an accident. It just doesn't want to be lonely anymore."

"Are you saying we should help it?"

The Doctor bit her lip. "Yeah."

"How are we supposed to do that? It would need a body, and someone's voice! And I'm not going to let you give it yours," he added.

"I'm trying to figure that one out," the Doctor responded slowly. "Maybe… Oh, yes! A body, preferably with no one in it, and a strongly telepathic mind! It should have been obvious!" She smiled at Jethro. "Nestene duplicates! Plastic people, controlled psychically by a Nestene consciousness- a pre-formed telepathic link! Completely empty, no one home- well, except for once, but that was very special."

"Okay… so, what do we do now?"

"We have to make a deal with it."

"Are you there?"

"Are you there?"

"Great," Jethro muttered.

"We have a deal for you," the Doctor continued, poking Jethro with her elbow.

"We have a deal for you…"

"We can get you a body to use and a mind to link with."

"We can get you a body to use and a mind to link with…"

"We can take you to the Luxury Palace."

"We can take you to the Luxury Palace…"

"However, you must promise never to kill or form a link with anyone again."

"However… you must promise never to kill or form a link with anyone again…"

"If you do, I will return and I promise you, I will find a way to end you." Her voice was clear and powerful.

"If you do… I will return and I promise you… I will find a way to end you…"

"You must let me and Jethro go, without linking with us or inhabiting either of us."

"You must let me and Jethro go… without linking with us or inhabiting one of us…"

"We will leave for a short time and then return with the body. The mind in question has already formed a psychic bond with it."

"We will leave for a short time and then return with the body… the mind in question has already formed a psychic bond with it…"

"We will then take you, in the body, to the Luxury Palace, and leave you there."

"We will then take you… in the body… to the Luxury Palace… and leave you there."

"If you agree to this deal, allow us to leave now without keeping any telepathic link."

"If you agree to this deal… allow us to leave now without keeping any telepathic link…"

The Doctor turned to Jethro. "Let's go," she said quietly.

"Let's go…" said Echo, a good two seconds later.

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**A/N: Wow... this is catching up on me... I'll actually have to start writing it again soon! XD**

**What did you think?**


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